Happy Halloween!

What do you need on All Hallows Eve?

first, some witches brew......

and a little sweet treat....

and best of all.....a tricky surprise....she is sweetly sinister, no?

              Happy Halloween!

 "Pixie, kobold, elf, and sprite,
All are on their rounds tonight;
In the wan moon's silver ray,
Thrives their helter-skelter play."
~Joel Benton

Zombie Alert!

I made a little Raggedy Anne Zombie.   She is a wee little thing and I just adore her. Apparently Raggedy Andy left the toilet seat up one too many times and has been reduced to a shrunken head!   (I used a fairy pattern I got here)

I also created this little Alice for someone who got flaked on in my zombie swap....thankfully, she has been well received, even though she lost her shoes.

 

 and here she is with her goodies....

 everyone needs a little zombie in their pumpkin patch at Halloween!

Halloween Party and giveaway!

Winners of the giveaway are Tawny and Cameron (15 and 18)OKAY... Tawny did not reply so WENDY of wonderland is the winner!
Along the walk, the toads do call....
"Come in, come in, come in" to all...

Halloween soon will be here....
We're throwing a celebration! my dear.

Please come inside,  its so chilly out...
Be mindful of spooks that are floating about.

The Grand Master is happy you've come to stay...

And Scarecrow Sam is ready to play!

The tree is decorated from limb to limb...

The spiders?  Oh, don't worry 'bout them! 
 



 

The crows on the mantle, they usher a warning...

"Don't sit by Jack, though he seems quite charming!"

His smile is wide but not quite right....
And he hides in the pumpkins to give children a fright!

Speaking of pumpkins, they're crawling with spiders...

If Miss Muffet were here, they would crawl up beside her.
 


But alas, with a shriek she has gone from this party...
(She left before it really got started!)

The zombies... 

and mummies...

 



and monsters are here...




But please don't fret, you've nothing to fear.
 They've had their fill of fingers and brew...

 



And are much too full to be hungry for you! 

The candles are lit and the back door is locked.

The house is beswagged, bedazzled and frocked.

I'm on my way to hop other parties.....
See you later, I must get started!



Now, before I forget there is something to do....just one little thing, I need from you!
Not a hair from your head or blood from your finger,
Just one little answer while you still linger.

 

Then "follow" me so you can revisit...
I'll pick 2 names (Monday) so maybe....you can win it! 

OR....one of these!

 


Thank you for coming by for a stop...
             and thanks to Vanessa for a fun blog hop!!!!
Anyone interested in joining my annual ornament swap? click here!

Halloween crafting....

Here are some goodies from a Handmade Halloween swap I joined.    My partner was Shelly, from California and she sent me this amazing pillow!  The spider brooch is coming off for work one day....it is perfectly sinister!

 and here are some ornies she made for my Halloween tree.  They are so cute!

 even this little card is perfect.  I love it and have propped it up with my other Halloween decorations...

 Here is a look at the whole package....which included a ghoulishly gorgeous candle and some retro candies!

I send my partner a beautiful pumpkin book and some other haunted goodies...

These haunted helper clothes pins and an assortment of scrape book goodies since she likes that.  Also, a few haunted kitchen recipes....can't have too many of those. I also includee a Frankie pincushion since she sews...and one of my skeleton pins.

here is the rest of everything...a cheese ball mix and plate, plus a spooky banner and creepy drape to wrap things up in.

 

I didn't realize until now how "food" themed my package was but as the saying goes...

"Eat, drink and be scary!"

more making it monthly...

Since I was computer-less for much of the last couple of months, I did a lot of crafting for the holidays.
I already posted my October gift here...but it didn't take long so I got busy making other gifts.   

I put together 25 bags of French Market Soup mix.   The recipe is one I got out of Southern Living years ago.  They have it online HERE too.  I kick mine up by smashing half the beans, adding cayenne and more spices....and spicy venison sausage. (The basic recipe isn't quite robust enough for my family!)   

 After mixing, they look like this...

but once packaged, they all look like this...

Then I got busy during the LSU game and made a cute little grass snake for someone special.  His name is George (for now.)

I am so glad I did something each month this year...it feels good to have gotten so much done.   I know that I'll have last minute things to do and buy...and will have to wait to purchase certain items.  But I don't feel nearly as stressed out right now as I did this time last year.    

Think I'll go have a glass of wine to celebrate!

Witches Hats!

The last couple of months, our home computer has been broken and I've been using Dean's laptop every few days to catch up.   I am probably the only person alive that doesn't like laptops but I really REALLY don't.  (I am thankful though that I had one to use!)  
Well, the computer is almost fixed.  We found out it has a short in it but that by disconnecting one of the ports, I am able to use it again.   Dean is going to look for a new box to house it but until then, I can at least use it.

Here is one of the things I was up to...a witch hat swap!     I don't join many swaps anymore....but I still like to host or join those swaps you find around this time of year.   I try to choose swaps that are for handmade things too....I find those the most rewarding and fun.   The funny thing about this swap is that my partner turned out to be someone I made an apron for about 5 years ago!    A small world.

We were to create a lovely hat to either wear or use as decoration and then include Halloween or fall items.   My partner sent me this lovely hat along with some other haunted goodies....my favorites being the amazing mulling spices and a quilted table runner.    I took the table runner to work to show a quilter friend of mine.  She loved it!  I brought it home and it is on the dining room table....just perfect!

here is the sweet hat, safely out of harm's way on top of the china hutch with Jack, the Grand Marshall of Halloween at our house!   

and here is what I made her....a spooky banner, Frankie pincushion and one of my crocheted skeleton pins are the main things.

Here is a close up of the hat.   Interesting that we both used velvet and incorporated spiders on our hats!  Mine is smaller, I made it so she could wear it if she wanted.   It just slips on a little headband.

here is a better photo of the spider...

"When witches go riding,
and black cats are seen,
the moon laughs and whispers,
‘tis near Halloween."
~Author Unknown